Our PhD students Eavan Brady 1. Supervisor: Prof Robbie Gilligan 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of PhD: 'Educational trajectories of children and youth in care: An exploratory study'. 4. Brief description of my research: Considerable research points to the low educational attainment of children and youth who have spent time in care. In recent decades this issue has become of great concern internationally. Using qualitative, biographical methods, this research will explore the nature of educational trajectories of young adults who spent time in the care of the Irish state as children and youth. This research seeks to examine: 1) the progression of events in the lives of participants; and 2) connections and links between events and outcomes, in order to gain an understanding of participants’ educational pathways. Research objectives relate to identifying key experiences over the life course that have affected participant educational trajectories and exploring the existence of common or shared experiences among participants. It is expected that the findings of this research will inform policy and service provision with the intention of promoting the educational outcomes of children and youth in the care of the state. Lynne Cahill 1. Supervisor: Dr. Stephanie Holt 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of PhD: 'Same sex intimate partner violence: The factors associated with domestic violence and abuse among lesbian women in Ireland'. 4. Brief description of my research: The central aim of this mixed methods study is to document the scope and experience of domestic violence and abuse within female intimate partner same sex relationships. 5. The following specific issues are regarded as central to the core research objective: 6. to explore the incidence of domestic violence and abuse in same sex relationships via a nationwide community survey, to increase knowledge and understanding of the particular experiences of those in abusive same sex relationships, and to identify the help seeking behaviours and service provision needs of those in abusive relationships. 7. Funder of the research: School of Social Work and Social Policy Studentship, Trinity College Dublin. 8. Details of related presentations/papers: Cahill, Lynne (2014) LGBT Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Domestic and International Research Findings. Presentation at the first conference in Ireland on LGBT IPV hosted by Dundalk Outcomers, Dundalk, May 30th 2014. Cahill, Lynne (2014). LGBT Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): What does the research tell us? Presentation for the Gay Switch Board Volunteer Training, Dublin, 7th October 2014. Conway, B., L. Cahill & M. Corcoran (2009).The ‘miracle’ of Fatima: Media framing and the regeneration of a Dublin housing estate’ Journalism July 2012 13: 551-571, first published on December 16, 2011. [PEER REVIEWED] Pending - L. Cahill (2013) Community Needs Analysis: Dublin’s South West Inner City (SWIC). [NON-PEER REVIEWED] Jeffers, G., A., Mulkeen, C., Higgins & L., Cahill (2011) Centre for Global Development through Education,External Evaluation Report, Education Department, NUIM. [NON- PEER REVIEWED]. Sorcha Farrell 1. Supervisor: Dr. Trish Walsh 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of my PhD: "The lived experience of a brain tumour diagnosis". 4. Description of the research: The literature supports the fact that the diagnosis of a primary malignant brain tumour can shatter ones understanding of, and meaning that they ascribe to life and the reality that they inhabit, as well as invoke with feelings of grief and loss. This can result in a multitude of challenges with adaptation, adjustment and coping. The objectives of this study will involve exploring the subjective lived experience of individuals with a primary malignant brain tumour diagnosis and the experiences of their primary caregivers, along with examining the processes related to adaptation and meaning-making that individuals undertake in order to cope throughout the illness journey. The study aims to discover if it is possible to generate a theory that describes the lived experience of a brain tumour diagnosis. Mairead Finn Mairéad is a PhD candidate in the School and is researching the social changes taking place in a local housing system following the wave of immigration to Ireland during the economic boom. Situated in a provincial town in Ireland, the research is a qualitative inquiry into immigrant's experiences, views and interpretations of their housing situations and an examination of the response of the town's housing system to the needs of this population. Entitled Immigration, Housing and Social Change: A Study of Immigrant's Pathways through the Private Rented Sector, the project is being supervised by Anthony McCashin and Dr. Paula Mayock and has been supported by funding from the Private Residential Tenancies Board. Mairéad holds a B.A. in Sociology and Social Policy (TCD) and an M.Econ.Sc in European Economic and Public Affairs (UCD). Previously, she has worked on projects at the Economic and Social Research Institute, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, and the European Trade Union Institute for Research, Brussels. Jeanne Forde 1. Supervisor: Gloria Kirwan and Dr. Stephanie Holt 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of my PhD: "Exploring issues of consent regarding Teenage Children obtaining therapeutic support in a mental health setting". 4. Description of the research: In this PhD study, I wish to explore the issue of consent procedures for teenage children accessing primary care level out-patient mental health support. I will consider the Irish experience of teenage children, their parents and professionals providing the service. The research will identify the current practices for obtaining consent from young people attending mental health support services and explore how the issue of consent impacts on how young people engage in mental health support services. Eva Garcia Albarran 1. Supervisor: Dr. Edurne Garcia Iriarte and Dr. Michael Feely 2. Nationality: Spanish 3. Working title of my PhD: Self Esteem in children with special educational needs in mainstream schools and the influence on their educational engagement, progress and outcomes. 4. Description of the research: A paramount aspect of the educational process is the assessment of educational outcomes, needed to assess the achievements and progress of all children, including children with special educational needs. The diversity of the concept of inclusion and the individual differences that children with special educational needs present, make difficult to draw firm conclusions from research to date. The aim of this project is to study the effect that factors such as standardised test, may have in the academic and social outcomes of children with mild to moderate special educational needs, in Irish primary mainstream schools at 1st and 2nd class level. It is looking to assess the effect of taking part in standardised test on; a) Children’ literacy and numeracy attainment, b) Teacher-Children relationship. Paula Harrison 1. Supervisor: Dr. Stephanie Holt 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of my PhD: Autism and the Family: Parent-child relationships of typically developing children in this context 4. Description of the research: When a child is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder it impacts every member of the family. For typically developing children, growing up with a disabled sibling will be stressful on a variety of practical, social and emotional levels as their needs may be overshadowed by the more pressing needs of their autistic sibling. While the experience of such siblings has been somewhat examined in international literature, their voices are noticeably sparse in dialogues around autism between researchers, parents, clinicians and educators. The central aim of this qualitative study is to explore the the lived experience of siblings in this context and how this experience informs parent child relationships. Derina Johnson 1. Supervisor: Prof Robbie Gilligan 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of my PhD: In search of a better life: A qualitative case study exploring the strategies and pathways of separated and displaced young people from Burma living in north- west Thailand 4. Description of the research: Decades of civil conflict and human rights abuses have displaced considerable numbers of young people from minority ethnic groups in eastern Burma across the border into Thailand. Unable to access citizenship documentation in their own country, they must subsequently negotiate lives as ‘illegal migrants’ on the margins of Thai society, facing social and economic isolation, poverty, and complex life choices. The aim of this qualitative case study is to explore the lived realities of a sample of separated young people from Burma living in informal residential care and other arrangements in north-west Thailand. The research seeks insight into their challenges and constraints, resources and strategies, in relation to their present and imagined pathways. The study hopes to further understanding of youth decision-making and adaptation in the face of displacement and social and economic marginalisation in the majority world. Members of the study community helped instigate and continue to advise on this research which builds upon the researcher’s three-year experience working within the community. Susan Kent 1. Supervisor: Prof Virpi Timonen 2. Nationality: Irish 3. Working title of my PhD: ‘Grandfathering in Ireland'.